One of my daughter's Irish dancing instructors turned 21 this past weekend, and so did her boyfriend.  Bailee asked if I might be willing to make a birthday cake for their joint 21st birthday party on Saturday.  Of course!  I absolutely love getting to make cakes for my friends and family.  Besides, Bailee had just modeled for our Day of the Dead party for us:

I was eager to do something special for her to say thank you!  

She asked if I could incorporate Irish step dancing (her passion) and skateboarding (her boyfriend's passion) into the cake design.

Umm...suuuure.

I struggled with this one.  Couldn't come up with a design concept I liked.  Sure, I could slap an Irish dancer and a skateboarder on any old cake.  Call me silly, but I kind of wanted it to make sense and look good.  

It was the night before the party and I finally realized that a common element, a connection between the two activities, was flight.  Step dancing takes amazing athleticism and grace, and world-class dancers like Bailee make amazing acrobatic moves seem effortless.  Similarly, I'm amazed (and rather terrified) by skateboarders, who hurtle themselves through the air doing death-defying stunts.  And then land ON WHEELS.  

I had just enough time to pull this off--and only then because I live in arid Arizona where I don't have to fight with humidity.  

A simple, rather non-descript cake.  With silhouettes of an Irish step dancer and a skateboarder in mid-flight, hovering above.  Whew.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute for inspiration to strike!

Happy birthday, Bailee and Joseph!